


McGenji Week, Day 3: Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

by WhiskeysWorks



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Blackwatch Era, Day 3, M/M, for McGenji Week!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-18 00:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19965556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiskeysWorks/pseuds/WhiskeysWorks
Summary: Genji is not the only one who suffers from memories of the past. It haunts everyone like a shadow, one that Jesse forgets, sometimes. Other times, it is all too real.





	McGenji Week, Day 3: Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

**Author's Note:**

> This is day 3 of the McGenji Week hosted by McGenjiEvents! The prompt was "desperate times call for desperate measures".

“Alright, I’m headin’ in,” Jesse checked in with the comms before slipping into the warehouse, the air cold and musty. 

There was a layer of dust covering everything, old wooden crates rotting and metal ones rusted. A hole in the roof let in the moonlight, splashes of silver on the floor in blotches and lines. Jesse sighed as he checked the corners, gun held at the ready, but not expected to be used. It wasn’t.

“All clear. Nothin’ in here but a bunch of empty crates. Maybe the lead was a fake,” Jesse spoke into his comm softly, rubbing his forehead. 

This was the third lead they had been hunting, and the third dead end they had caught. He was tired, had not slept in a real bed in weeks, and the smell was starting to give him a headache. A shadow passed over him, Jesse glancing up as Genji crouched on the edge of the hole in the roof.

“No one has been here in ages,” He murmured, Jesse nodding, letting his hand fall back to his side. Genji dropped and landed silently, eyes glowing red pinpoints that shifted as he looked around.

“Yup, kind of saw that one, bud.”

“Do not call me that.”

“Alrighty. Saw that one too, Shimada, saw that one too.”

“You’re pissy tonight...”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. We’ve been led to another useless find because someone wants to fuck around with us, on the road for about two weeks now travelin’ rough, and I’m tired and dirty and yeah, pissy too. I mean, this is shit the grunts should be doin’, not us. Low-level missions that aren’t worth anyone’s time, hell, no one should even be on this—”

“McCree. Found something.”

Jesse turned from where he had been ranting at the wall, Genji having wandered while he was doing so. Good to know he hadn’t been listened to. The ninja was crouched, fingertips gliding over something covered in the dust. He slid his wakizashi free as Jesse came over with a sour look, digging the tip under the seam of what must have been a bunker door. 

It took Genji a moment, but he eventually opened it, pulling the door up and raising a brow at Jesse.

“See, you got night vision. Otherwise I would’ve found that too,” The gunslinger groused. Genji merely scoffed at him, Jesse keeping his mouth shut for once about it. He was too tired for Genji’s sass, and frankly, he was the one finding secret bunkers, so he had a leg up on Jesse there.

“So. Night vision first into the pitch black bunker?” Jesse offered, sweeping his hand towards the gaping blackness of the door. Genji shook his head and stepped down the stairs, wakizashi still in hand. 

Something about the situation made Jesse uneasy, a sick feeling seeping into his gut. It was familiar, but he couldn’t remember why. Slipping Peacekeeper back into his grip, Jesse followed after Genji. He pulled a flashlight from his tactical pouch, moving it around the walls as they reached the bottom. 

His headache was starting to throb, making him wince a bit.

“Damn...Hey, help me see if there’s a light down here, will you?”

“It’s to your left.”

“Thanks, Night Vision.”

“Please do not start calling me that.”

Jesse smirked to himself as he looked for the light switch. It was an old-fashioned one, Jesse flipping it on. Nothing but the sound of electricity running for a moment, then, the stuttering of orange-tinted light.

“How old is this place? Still usin’ sodium lights...? Must be ancient,” Jesse muttered to himself, looking around as the light got stronger. 

There was a single chair in the center of the room, chains dangling from it. Jesse’s brow furrowed. He had seen something like this before. Vague memories pieced themselves together in fragments, unfinished parts staying that way before there was a jarring shift to another one. His headache pounded behind his temples.

Someone walking around him slowly, the click of their shoes on the metal floor measured. Tap. Tap. Tap. They said nothing, just walked. Jesse breathing heavily through the gag, blood dripping from his nose and chin, splashing on his thighs. Not in synch with the taps. The light was too bright, too much, too loud.

An injection of a strange substance into his arm, Jesse unable to struggle against whatever was holding him to the chair. Chains. Biting into the skin of his wrist and neck and chest. It was pitch black, yet, Jesse could see movement, colours. Something watching him in the shadows. Waiting. Prowling.

“No! No, you can’t leave me in here with that!! No! No no help me!! Help me, please!”

Sweat beaded on his temple as he writhed and screamed, eyes wild as they looked upon nothing.

“Gabriel Reyes. What do you know about him?”

Jesse stayed silent, clenching his jaw harder and grunting as he was hit again. Everything hurt, muted and dull until the strike sent his head snapping to the side. Sharp and hot. Broken. Lots of broken things.

“You work with him, you are always at his side. Tell us what you know.”

Jesse stared blankly at the floor, ears still ringing with the methodical tap, tap, tap. Still feeling the eyes on him, but this time, he knew there were people watching him. Sagging against the chains, unable to see outside of the ring of light shining on his face. His mind was foggy, slow. A headache. Pulsing with his heartbeat. Raised.

“McCree.”

“McCree!”

“Jesse!”

Jesse blinked, head slamming against the wall as he jolted. He winced, hand going up to hold it.

“Motherfucker...!”

Genji was kneeling in front of him, Jesse sitting up slowly, eyes unfocused.

“What happened?” He murmured, Genji setting a hand on his shoulder cautiously. Filling all the space in front of Jesse, eyes worried as he made the gunslinger focus.

“You...Regressed. We are not down there anymore.”

“Where are we?”

“Still in the upper warehouse.”

“How long? Gen, how long has it been, what time is it?! When is it?!”

“Jesse, it is okay. It is still December 9th, 2061. You were out for twenty-three minutes,” Genji explained in a tone Jesse had never heard from him. Gentle. It only calmed him for a moment before panic constricted his throat again. 

Jesse leaned over and threw up, hands shaking as he wiped his mouth after emptying his stomach.

“You’re safe, Jesse. It is just you and I here, you are safe,” Genji murmured, hand splayed over the gunslinger’s back. A solid, warm presence. Grounding. 

His mind was still racing, though, Jesse felt as though he was floating outside of his body. Out of control. Flailing, yet unable to move.

“Fuck fuck fuck no, no no I didn’t tell ‘em! I didn’t tell ‘em nothin’ I swear! I-I didn’t say anythin’!”

“I know. It’s okay, Jesse. You are safe. We are on a recon mission at a warehouse in Detroit, Michigan. It’s one fifty-eight in the morning.”

Jesse took a few steadying breaths, though, they still stuttered with each inhale. The images were not going away. He was getting desperate.

“Genji, tell me somethin’ only you would know, please, this can’t be another one I can’t—!”

“You are the first and only person to call me Genji here. Everyone else uses Shimada. You’re the only one I let use my first name. And in return, you told me to use your first name too, since we...Are friends. You called me your friend,” Genji told him softly, both hands going up to grip Jesse’s shoulders. 

The gunslinger stared at him for a long moment, swallowing thickly. He nodded, sweat rolling down his temple. It still felt too hot, too much, but it was fading. Slowly.

“You also wear boots with your running shorts to training, and it’s the stupidest thing I have ever seen, but I think it’s funny, too. I asked how your feet do not start to hurt, and you just grinned and said that they do, but you had to keep up appearances and that you wanted to prove something to Reyes. You did not hear it, but I laughed. It was the first time I’ve laughed since I was brought here,” Genji continued. 

Jesse stared at him, oddly transfixed by the way the ninja was looking at him, still holding his shoulders.

“When we were training in the rain, you asked me, with all seriousness, if I would rust. You were actually concerned about me rusting. And when I explained to you that I would not because the metal is a carbon fiber, you actually listened. I was trying to make you leave me alone with something I thought you would find boring, but you were genuinely interested in what I had to say. You listened to me, and then, you stayed with me the whole time.” 

“You asked me if I felt comfortable telling you about the rest of me, because you said it was ‘super cool’. But you gave me the option to say no, something I hadn’t been given before. I said yes, though, and told you more. And I didn’t get dysphoric talking about it for once. It felt...Relieving, in a way. To tell someone about it myself, and not hear about it from a doctor, or some political representative.”

Jesse felt his mind quiet, Genji taking a breath. It was the most he had ever said to him, the gunslinger clinging to every word.

“You always helped me when I regressed, or had an attack. I want to return the favour, whenever you need it,” The ninja finished, pulling Jesse forward lightly. Giving him room to disengage if he wanted to. He did not. 

Jesse leaned into the embrace, eyes fluttering shut after a moment. There was only blackness behind his eyelids once again.

“Are you with me, Jesse?” Genji asked cautiously, Jesse nodding, chin tapping against his shoulder. It was warm. Genji was so, so warm.

“I’m here, yeah...”

“Okay.”

The ninja stood slowly from his previous crouch, holding a hand out for Jesse. He took it. Standing made him dizzy, body still quivering. Weak.

“Shit...I’m sorry, Gen, I didn’t—I didn’t think that would happen. It just came on all of a sudden,” Jesse mumbled, mouth tasting of stale bile, disgusting.

“You do not have to apologize. It is not your fault.”

“I couldn’t even remember what happened ‘till now.”

“It’s okay, Jesse. It is okay. I am sorry for not realizing sooner. I was there when we brought you back from...That. I should have been more careful.”

Jesse shook his head, taking a few shuffling steps forward.

“It’s okay. Let’s just...Get out of here, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Genji nodded, keeping a concerned eye on Jesse the whole time. They made it back out into the frigid night air, Jesse taking a deep breath, letting the bitter cold of it burn in his lungs.

“The lead was right. It must have been an old Talon hideout. Not much left, abandoned long ago, no other information available. Will do a full report back at base,” Genji spoke into the comm, tone short and clipped. 

Jesse stared at the moon, full and bright. The ninja tapped his shoulder, Jesse blinking and turning his gaze to him.

“Come on. Let’s go back to the rendezvous point.”

“Okay.”

“You doing okay?” Genji questioned, hand squeezing Jesse’s shoulder lightly. The concern made Jesse smile a bit, grateful.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

As long as you are here.

Genji nodded, then started walking. Jesse stayed by his side. The night was cold and silent.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is OverwatchWorks, there are many more McGenji and other fics there! :) Thank you for reading!


End file.
